S'pore tightens labor rules

S'pore tightens labor rules

SINGAPORE (AP): Responding to falling productivity in the building industry, Singapore will require all foreign construction workers to pass a basic skills test before they can enter the country to work, a newspaper reported on Friday.

The government will progressively increase the proportion of foreigners capable of passing the test, which verifies construction skills such as reading basic drawings and understanding some English, said The Straits Times.

Singapore imports most of its manual laborers from Malaysia, Thailand, India and Bangladesh. About 450,000 people with basic work passes -- including maids -- live in the country.

From April next year, 50 percent of all construction workers from abroad will have to pass the test, up from the existing 20 percent level.